Finder: How do I fix grayed-out files?

You are comparing a Cocoa Framework interface (NSOpenPanel) view that restricts by application-specific file types, to a real Finder window with no such file type restrictions.

See my answer to your duplicate post in the Pages for Mac Support Community.

I've had this ongoing problem as well. By accident today I stumbled upon something: It might, apparently, (in my case anyway), depend on the path you choose to get to that file. If I attempt to get to a file by first opening Pages and then clicking Open, I see a list of Pages files, many of which are grayed out (usually those which have been copied and pasted). However. today I discovered if I first open Finder, and then attempt to go to those files, none of them are grayed out.

drag and drop will generally suffice

do the files open from their source location before you copy them?

is the copy finished?

what format is the SSD?

select it and do hold down COMMAND + i

First, please restart the computer if you haven't already done so since you noticed the problem. That might be all you need to do.

Otherwise, select one of the items in question in the Finder and open the Info window. If the Modified date is January 24, 1984, see below.

Back up all data before proceeding.

Select the text on the line below by dragging across it. Don't include the blank space at the end of the line. Only the text should be highlighted.

touch -t 198001010000

Copy the selected text to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination command-C.

Launch the Terminal application in any of the following ways:

☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)

☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.

☞ Open LaunchPad and start typing the name.

Paste into the Terminal window by pressing command-V, then press the space bar.

Now switch to the Finder and and select all the item(s) in question. If there are thousands of items, only select a hundred or so. Drag into the Terminal window. More text will be added to what you entered.

Click in the Terminal window to activate it, then press return.

Wait for a new line ending in a dollar sign ($) to appear. You can then quit Terminal.

Relaunch the Finder. You should now be able to access the files as usual. The modification dates will still be inaccurate, but they'll be corrected the next time you modify the files.

Did you check the modification date of the files?

A couple of tools that may help you access these “graphic” files. The trial Graphic Converter application supports almost every format known to man, and the free LibreOffice has a robust support for old document and image formats.

After you ran the command, the modification date should have been changed to January 1, 1980. Did that happen? If so, did you relaunch the Finder?

FWIW, I think you are on to something when you said the files may not be fully transferred for whatever reason. It would explain why they are greyed out. Can you try transferring them again into the same locations so they will be overwritten?

Please post a screenshot of the Terminal window that shows what you're doing. Drag only one file into the window. Be careful not to include any private information.

Start a reply to this message. Drag the image file into the editing window to upload it. You can also include text in the reply.

try logging out of user then back in.

You may want to run First Aid from Disk Utility on the external drive.